Install and Quick Start

Install

Linux and macOS use the shell installer:

curl -fsSL https://knot.clay.li/i/install.sh | sh

Windows uses the PowerShell installer:

irm https://knot.clay.li/i/install.ps1 | iex

Upgrade an installed release:

knot upgrade

For non-interactive scripts, use:

knot upgrade -y

-y confirms that the daemon may be stopped and active SSH sessions may be disconnected. Development builds created from source do not self-upgrade.

Build from source:

go build -o knot ./cmd/knot
mkdir -p ~/.local/bin
mv knot ~/.local/bin/

Recommended: Enable Shell Completion

Enable completion right after installation. Knot completion covers commands, subcommands, server aliases, and some arguments. Without it, daily SSH, SFTP, copy, and forwarding workflows are noticeably slower.

Bash

Enable it for the current shell:

source <(knot completion bash)

Enable it persistently:

mkdir -p ~/.local/share/bash-completion/completions
knot completion bash > ~/.local/share/bash-completion/completions/knot

Zsh

Enable it for the current shell:

autoload -U compinit && compinit
source <(knot completion zsh)

Enable it persistently:

mkdir -p ~/.zfunc
knot completion zsh > ~/.zfunc/_knot
printf '\nfpath=(~/.zfunc $fpath)\nautoload -U compinit\ncompinit\n' >> ~/.zshrc

Fish

Enable it for the current shell:

knot completion fish | source

Enable it persistently:

mkdir -p ~/.config/fish/completions
knot completion fish > ~/.config/fish/completions/knot.fish

PowerShell

Enable it for the current shell:

knot completion powershell | Out-String | Invoke-Expression

Enable it persistently:

$CompletionDir = Join-Path $HOME ".config\knot"
New-Item -ItemType Directory -Path $CompletionDir -Force | Out-Null
$CompletionPath = Join-Path $CompletionDir "completion.ps1"
knot completion powershell > $CompletionPath
if (!(Test-Path $PROFILE)) { New-Item -ItemType File -Force $PROFILE | Out-Null }
$CompletionLine = ". `"$CompletionPath`""
if (-not (Select-String -Path $PROFILE -SimpleMatch $CompletionLine -Quiet -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue)) {
    Add-Content -Path $PROFILE -Value "`n$CompletionLine"
}

See Shell Completion and Version for the command reference.

Create Your First Server

The most common non-interactive form:

knot add web-prod --host 1.2.3.4 --user deploy --key deploy-key --tags prod

If you do not provide the full set of parameters, knot add starts a guided prompt:

knot add web-prod

Connect

The full command is:

knot ssh web-prod

The root command rewrites an unknown first argument into an SSH connection, so day to day you can write:

knot web-prod

This shortcut belongs to knot ssh [alias]; it is not documented as a separate command.

Remote Exec

knot exec web-prod "uptime"
knot exec web-prod "systemctl status nginx" --json

knot exec preserves the remote command exit code, which makes it suitable for scripts and automation.

File Transfer

knot cp ./dist/. web-prod:/var/www/html/
knot cp web-prod:/var/log/nginx/access.log ./

Remote paths use the alias:/path form. When the source directory ends with /., Knot copies the directory contents.

Common Global Flags

Flag	Default	Description
--json	false	Output JSON for scripts and automation.
--host-key-policy	empty	Host key policy: fail, accept-new, strict, or insecure-skip.
-h, --help	false	Show help for the current command.